State Soil of Delaware

DE Natural Resources
State Soil of Delaware
By USDA - NRCA
Apr 20, 2008, 21:37 PST

The State Soil of Delaware

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Greenwich Soil Profile

Surface layer: brown loam
Subsoil - upper: strong brown loam
Subsoil - lower: yellowish brown sandy loam
Substratum: yellowish brown coarse sand stratified with dark yellowish brown loamy sand

The Greenwich series consists of very deep, well-drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils that formed in sandy marine and old alluvial sediments overlain by a thin mantle of sediments that have a high content of silt. These soils are in the uplands on the coastal plain of Delaware and adjacent States. They are among the most productive soils in Delaware for agriculture and forestry and are considered prime farmland. They have few limitations if used as sites for urban or recreational development.

On April 20, 2000, Governor Thomas R. Carper signed House Bill 436, which designated Greenwich loam as Delaware’s official State soil. Students from Fifer Middle School assisted primary sponsor Rep. V. George Carey in convincing the General Assembly to adopt Greenwich loam as the State soil. The students made Greenwich soil mini-monoliths, which they distributed to legislators in an attempt to illustrate the need for the public to be educated about the importance of soils and soil conservation.

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